Document NEY94vEpg2MabqoNZ7Oappy1y

FILE NAME: Kaiser Gypsum (KG) DATE: 1970 Mar 24 DOC#: KG070 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Memo RE Asbestos in Construction Products with Attached Journal Article - Controlling Construction Pollution KA I S E R QCMENT 6- GYPSUM (?'*^)RPO RATION ' INTER-OFFICE MEMORANDUM 5 j ached a r ^ ' c , e a u t h o r e d by t h e C h i e f S p e c i f i c a t i o n s W r i t e r , H. J . Rosen o f Skidmore, Owings and M e r r i l l was b r o u g h t t o my a t t e n t i o n by R.* Beck, i t i s o f e s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t s i n c e we us e a s b e s t o s f i b e r s in t he m anuf act ur e o f Cushenbury and Permanente P l a s t i c Gun Cement, as well as Permanente Hand P l a s t i c Cement. - The a u t h o r r e l a t e s t h a t d e a t h s from c a n c e r among a s b e s t o s workers in the U. S. A. i s seven t imes g r e a t e r t h an t h a t o f t he ge ne r al whi t e male popu la t i o n . He, a l s o , r e l a t e s t h a t a l l i e d t rades men in t he c o n s t r u c t i o n i n d u st r y are subject to exposure to asbestos is and cancer. Hod c a r r i e r s a r e c o n t i n u a l l y expos ed t o t he d u s t as t hey br eak s acks i n t o t he mi xer . Knowing how " s u e happy" some p eo p l e a r e , and knowing t h a t some of t h e s e t rades men w i l l h e a r o f t h i s , i f t hey have not a l r e a d y , i t would seem wise to bring t h i s to your a t t e n t i o n , as well as th a t of our legal per sonnel. Perhaps th is is s u f f i c ie n t reason to locate and use a s u b s titu te for the a s b e s t o s . Cushenbury P l a s t i c Gun Cement does not u t i l i z e a s b e s t o s f i b e r s . A r t i c l e from P rogressive A r c h i t e c t u r e , February 1970, Page 102, " S p e c i f i c a tion Cline." JCM/mr Cover: Illinois Slate Capitol Building re stored. Photo: Orlando Cabanban. Editor Forrest Wilson, AIA, CSI Executive Editor Burton H. Holmes, AIA Senior Editor C. Ray Smith, AIA Associate Editors Don Raney Stephen A. Kurtz David A. Morton Suzanne Stephens (News Report) Esther McCoy (Los Angeles) Administrative Assistant Charlotte Van Voorhis Copy Editor Joyce Reback Assistant to the Editor Rosemary Lacerenza Assistant Editors Chet Mantolesky Karl Vossbrinck Editorial Assistant Rose Calomino Graphics Joel Petrower A rt Director George Coderre Assistant A rt Director Anne Marie Sapione A rt & Production Nicholas R. Loscalzo Architectural Drawings Contributing Editors Norman Coplan I t's The Law Bernard Tomson, Hon. AIA It's The Law E. E. Halmos, Jr. Washington/Financial Harold J. Rosen Specifications Clinic Publisher Philip H. Hubbard, Jr. Associate Publisher Harrington A. Rose Wolcott H. Johnson Advertising Sales Manager Burchard M. Day Promotion Director Joseph M, Scanlon Production Manager Daniel H. Desimone Assistant Production Manager Eugene A. Lizotte Circulation Director Sue Feldman Subscription Manager 2 " P THIS MONTH Progressive Architecture February 1970 li* 'S f- M . i&-` j|, m Vm - Restored National Monument Sparks i Urban Revitalization Through intricate and painstaking demolition and . reconstruction, the historic Illinois State Capitol ; Building in Springfield has been completely restored, ; at the same time revitalizing the surrounding central j business area. The complex provides the community; with a two-level underground parking garage as well < as an area for perform ing arts and a research li brary. Ferry & Henderson, Architects. 52 Co-op City: Learning to Like St Robert Venturi, one of this and controversial architects, country's most original and Denise Scott Brown If discuss the aims, achievements, and significance of Co-op City, a low-cost project th at will house over 60,000 people. The authors suggest th at if carefully considered, Co-op City should shake up some newer planning and urban design theories. Herman J . Jes- sor, Architect. Architectural An exquisite a rt f townhouse, provid ordinary details, carve complex ani ^relatively small s great sophisticate t tect. Alienation Re\ Italian architect ( International's ne -country the Italia By placing the dis) ^ambiguous contex ; a fresh new light. Departments Four Proposals: Rapid Economical Production of Mass Housing Two Connecticut architects have developed an u n -. usual series of solutions related to research in housing and urban development, th at will also meet the chal lenge of HUD's "Operation Breakthrough." Solutions th at will perm it the use of different structural tech-^ niques with such basic m aterials as concrete, steel, ^ plastics, as well as a combination of these, are illus-,| trated. Wojciech G. and Urszula Lesnikowski, Archi-i tects. 7i:' Your Point of View P/A News Report Products and Liter Edito rial............. Specifications Clini Book Reviews . Jobs and Men . . . Directory of Produ : Readers' Service ( FEBRU ARY 1970 i t e f B R U A R Y 1970 p/A SPECIFICATIONS CUNIG J-RTCEN If Controlling Construction Pollution This column concludes that due to its contribution to air pollution, asbestos-sprayed insulation must be eliminated in future construction. Rosen is Chief Specifications Writer of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, New York. The hazards of air and water pollu tion are slowly being recognized as more statistical information on their effect on the human environment is coming to the attention of a con cerned citizenry. Since the pub lication of Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, people have begun to ques tion the dangerous side effects that result from chemical pesticides, au tomobile fumes, and raw sewage dumped into our streams and rivers. Industrial and human wastes, care lessly or innocently disposed of into the atmosphere or into rivers, have an effect on nature's biological bal ance that governs the production of oxygen and the growth of marine and animal life. In addition, as archi tects, we should decry the despoilation of our environment resulting from the accumulation of physical mounds of garbage, junked cars, and industrial waste products. We should also take a closer look at our construction practices to deter mine whether we are a party to this pollution as a by-product of our de signs, and whether we can reduce or eliminate some of our own contribu tions to this problem area. Certainly in demolition of existing structures in urban centers, we should restrict the amount of dust that develops. In some European cities, barriers consisting of plastic envelopes are utilized around demol ition sites to confine the dust result ing from these operations. Perhaps our Building Departments and our Air Pollution Control Departments should institute stricter controls over such procedures. A more striking example of how architects can reduce pollution that actually contributes to fatalities is in the selection of certain sprayed-on fire proofing and insulating products. In 1900, a London physician, in performing an autopsy upon the 102 Specifications Clinic body of an asbestos-textile worker found asbestos particles in the lungs and attributed this death to the worker's occupation. Several iso lated instances occurred subsequently where an examination of the lung tissue of deceased asbestos workers indicated the presence of asbestos. In 1924 an English physician, Dr. Cooke, after an extensive autopsy and subsequent search of medical lit erature, concluded that the death of a patient resulted solely from the in halation of asbestos fibers and as signed the name asbestosis to this disease. An investigation of some 363 as bestos-textile workers in Great Brit ain in 1928 disclosed that 95, or about 25 per cent, showed evidence of asbestosis. As a result, legislation was enacted in Great Britain to re quire improvements in ventilation and exhaust systems in asbestos-tex tile plants and periodic examination of workers. Although this improve ment in working conditions length ened the life expectancy of these workers, it was learned in 1935 by Dr. Lynch in this country that as bestos workers were dying of cancer as a result of their association with asbestos. Independent investigators in many parts of the world were like wise coming to the same conclusion based on their studies of the associ ation of workers with asbestos. Dr. Selikoff, of New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, had an opoprtunity to examine the records of members of the Asbestos Workers Union. The study covered a total of 1522 in sulation workers between 1942 and 1962. It was found that the death rate from cancer among these as bestos workers was about seven times greater than that of the gen eral white male U. S. population. These observations are staggering. In addition, one must conclude that ! / ' not only are people who actually work with asbestos exposing themselves to asbestosis and cancer, but also that allied tradesmen in the building con struction industry, closely associated , with this work, are subjected to this exposure. Steam fitters, electricians, ;|l carpenters, acoustical workers, ma sons, structural steel erectors, a n d |i| others employed on projects using j | spray-asbestos insulation in the area of this contamination, and who in- --i hale these asbestos particles, are ex posing themselves and are likely can didates for this disease. .... Equally disturbing is the fact that asbestos is practically indestructible; ii while it may disintegrate, it is an ev erlasting contaminant in the atmo-j sphere. It has been estimated that during its application as fireproofing| | to structural steel members and metal decks, about 10 per cent overshoots and is projected into the atmosphere.,jg On high-rise structures in urban;i| II areas, spray-asbestos fireproofing hasSJ been found three and four blocks^ from the construction site, so thatgg the unsuspecting general public isjg likewise subjected to this hazard asjj well as the tradesman directly in j| volved in its application. While this # relationship between a casual eng" counter with asbestos and possible^ development of disease in the public^ has not been established, it behooves^ the architectural profession to con;, sider other materials to perform thj work of sprayed-on fireproofing an4j insulation. ,, Not only is there a clear and Pres!4 ent danger in the initial application^ of asbestos on the health of the in-, stallers, but 30 or 40 years henc|| when these buildings are torn downs the demolition operations, if n0||g properly controlled, will add more bestos fibers to the atmosphere. Tn| time to use substitutes for asbesto?: sprayed insulation is now. FEBRUARY 1970 f ig